SCSU baseball's season ends in Central Missouri regional
With two losses to No. 4 Central Missouri, St. Cloud State’s baseball season has come to a close in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II central regional tournament.
Though qualifying as the lowest seed, Huskies (33-20) pushed the host Mules (43-14) in both games they played in Warrensburg, Missouri.
“They still had to play a perfect game to beat us – in that respect, I'm really proud of our guys,” Dolan said after Thursday’s opening-round loss. “We're missing so many key pieces and our guys still find a way to step up.”
In the opening round of the double-elimination tournament, SCSU tried to stage a late-inning rally against UCM, but the Huskies fell short 7-6. Two days later on May 20, St. Cloud State advanced with a 5-4 13-inning win over Ouachita Baptist, but the Huskies again fell to the Mules after failing to mount a comeback, losing 6-4.
Husky pitcher Jack Habeck only had about an hour of rest from throwing 33 pitches in the 11th and 12th inning against Ouachita Baptist before starting against the top-seeded Mules. Despite giving just four hits in his three innings of work against UCM, Habeck gave up four runs, a deficit SCSU couldn’t overturn.
“They're not just a good team this year, they've been a great team for 30 years,” Dolan said of the Mules.
The Huskies gave up two further runs before starting to pick away at the six-run lead. Second baseman Sam Riola and designated hitter Ben Clapp were both 2-4 and scored a run. Riola’s run was the first for SCSU: he scored in the sixth inning when Clapp singled to left center. Small ball scored another run in the seventh, but Clapp came up big in the final frame with a leadoff home run against all-region closer JD McReynolds, who had not previously allowed a homer in his collegiate career. Trailing 6-3, the Huskies managed another run before the right-handed sophomore tallied three outs.
Dolan said he is confident in the incoming and returning classes’ potential for more postseason success.
“It's an expectation for the Huskies to be in regionals, and for us to get back to one despite the injuries is so important for our guys,” he said. “Then to play three really competitive games, that gives our guys some confidence on the big stage. Once you get here it's anybody's game.”
Riola, a Ham Lake native, exhausted his final year of eligibility, coming to SCSU by way of Louisiana-Lafayette, but many of the Huskies’ top hitters are presumed to return. Outfielder John Nett, who led the team in average, hits, OPS and walks will be a senior and infielder Sawyer Smith, who had the second most home runs on the team after Riola, will be a junior.
Clapp will be back too, as will pitchers Habeck and Luke Tupy.
“When you look at all the key starters we have coming back, I start to feel really good about the future,” Dolan said.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: SCSU loses to UCM in regional tournament
